Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #361, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! I'm excited to share today's tip with you. I came across it years ago but then forgot about it until today. And I'm kicking myself because it's so useful! I'm pretty sure I'll be using it on a daily basis now... read on to find out what it is. ➜ News I.Last week, Google announced a significant enhancement to formula generation in Gemini for Sheets, making the...
9 days ago • 1 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #360, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! Last week I shared that I'm working on a new online course called Modern Google Sheets. I've now recorded 90% of the videos and edited about 65% of them so it's progressing well. After they're finished, I'll upload them to Teachable (the online school platform), prepare the templates, and add some challenge questions. I'm excited to get this course out into the...
16 days ago • 2 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #359, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! Have you noticed how much Google Sheets has changed in the past couple of years? We tend to think of spreadsheets as static tools, but that's just not the case. When I open a Sheet today I invariably use Tables and AI tools, both of which weren't available a few years ago. So I’ve been building something new to help you get fully up to speed with the modern way...
23 days ago • 2 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #358, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! Today's tip comes from an accidental discovery I made whilst researching a trick with the LEFT and RIGHT functions. Let me ask you... What do you think happens with this formula? (Answer before trying it in your Sheet ;) ) = "A" < "B" Answer #VALUE! error TRUE #NUM! error Check out the answer in today's tip and see a real-world application below. ➜ News I.Google...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #357, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! Coming to your inbox on a Tuesday because it was a public holiday here in the US yesterday (Happy Labor Day!). I had a friend and his family visit (Mr Data School himself!). We had a great weekend exploring in the woods, watching the kids catch crayfish, and making s'mores over a fire in the evening. I feel recharged (and a little tired) and ready to dive into...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #356, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! I’m delighted to have my friend Justin Keene of EdTech-Training sponsoring this week’s newsletter. His company teaches educators how to use the Canvas LMS through self-paced learning courses, but here’s the cool part: he built the entire training platform itself with Google Apps Script! By combining libraries, web apps, and APIs, Justin powers real-time progress...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, After a few weeks break for the summer 🏖️, we're back with the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #355, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! What's new? AI continues to dominate the tech headlines, with new features crammed into every corner of the internet, whether they’re needed or not. But beyond the hype, the tools are improving, and that includes in the spreadsheet domain. These days, when I need to create a complex formula, I often start with a...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #354, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! In last week's newsletter we compared wide and tall data, and what the pros and cons of each data "shape" were. Today, I want to show you how to move from one format to the other. How to transform tall data into wide data and vice versa. Going in one direction is easy. Going back, in the other direction, is less so. Find out which way round below! ➜ News I. It's...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Brought to you by: Hi Reader, Welcome to the Google Sheets Tips newsletter #353, your Monday morning espresso, in spreadsheet form! Today we're looking at the shape of data. It's foundational concept that underpins pivot tables and charts in Google Sheets. Once you understand the difference between wide data (for charts) and tall data (for pivot tables), you'll be off to the races! This week is all about the pros and cons of each data shape. Next week, I'll show you how to use formulas and...
4 months ago • 2 min read